# 奈良
## Chinese
### Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 奈良 (Nara).

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): Nàiliáng
    (Zhuyin): ㄋㄞˋ ㄌㄧㄤˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): noi$^6$ loeng$^4$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Nāi-liông
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: Nàiliáng
*** Zhuyin: ㄋㄞˋ ㄌㄧㄤˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: Nàiliáng
*** Wade–Giles: Nai$^4$-liang$^2$
*** Yale: Nài-lyáng
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Nayliang
*** Palladius: Найлян (Najljan)
*** Sinological IPA : /naɪ̯⁵¹ li̯ɑŋ³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: noi$^6$ loeng$^4$
*** Yale: noih lèuhng
*** Cantonese Pinyin: noi$^6$ loeng$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: noi$^6$ lêng$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /nɔːi̯²² lœːŋ²¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Nāi-liông
*** Tâi-lô: Nāi-liông
*** Phofsit Daibuun: naixlioong
*** IPA (Taipei): /nãi³³⁻¹¹ liɔŋ²⁴/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /nãi³³⁻²¹ liɔŋ²³/

### Proper noun

奈良
* (～縣) Nara (a prefecture of Japan)
* (～市) Nara (a city in Nara Prefecture, Japan)

## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 奈 | 良 |
| な Grade: 4 (ateji) | ら Grade: 4 (ateji) |
| goon | nanori |
* Alternative spellings
* 寧楽 平城

### Etymology

From Old Japanese. Attested from at least the early 700s. The kanji are ateji (当て字).
Various ancient spellings suggest forms ending in -ku or -ki. This latter element is not attested past the Old Japanese stage:
奈羅, 那羅, 楢, 儺羅 名良, 奈良, 那良 那楽, 寧楽 平城 →
 ⟨nara⟩  ⟨nara⟩  ⟨naraku⟩  ⟨naraki$_2$⟩ →
 /nara/  */naraᵑ/  */narakʉ/  */narakɨ/ → /nara/
According to the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), the placename is derived from the Japanese verb 均す, 平す (narasu, “to flatten”). In The Study of Place Names, Kunio Yanagida stated, “Nara stands for ‘flatland’.”
However, an analysis of Old Japanese phonetic spellings (man'yōgana) reveals that the city name was often spelled with a final -ku or -ki element, which makes it phonologically unlikely that the city name derives directly from the verb narasu. The root from which the verb itself derives, nar-, appears in various terms related to “flat” or “flatness”, a fitting descriptor for the local geography. The final -ku or -ki element in the ancient spellings may be Old Japanese 城 (ki$_2$ → ki, “palisade, stronghold, fortress, castle”), as also suggested in the alternative kanji spelling 平城 (literally “flat stronghold”). See also the discussion of the city name's etymology on Wikipedia.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) なら [náꜜrà] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [na̠ɾa̠]
* Audio:(file)

### Proper noun

奈(な)良(ら) • (Nara)
* a placename, especially:
** Short for 奈良県 (Nara-ken): Nara (a prefecture of Japan)
** Short for 奈良市 (Nara-shi): Nara (the capital city of Nara Prefecture)
* a surname

#### Derived terms

* 奈良(なら)団扇(うちわ) (Nara uchiwa)
* 奈良(なら)絵(え)本(ほん) (Nara Ehon)
* 奈良(なら)一(いっ)刀(とう)彫(ぼり) (Nara ittōbori)
* 奈良(なら)街(かい)道(どう) (Nara kaidō)
* 奈良(なら)刀(がたな) (naragatana)
* 奈良(なら)県(けん) (Nara-ken)
* 奈良(なら)公(こう)園(えん) (Nara Kōen)
* 奈良(なら)金(こん)剛(ごう) (Nara kongō)
* 奈良(なら)坂(ざか) (Narazaka)
* 奈良(なら)酒(ざけ) (Nara-zake)
* 奈良(なら)晒(ざらし) (Nara-zarashi)
* 奈良(なら)三(さん)作(さく) (Nara Sansaku)
* 奈良(なら)時(じ)代(だい) (Nara jidai)
* 奈良(なら)線(せん) (Nara-sen)
* 奈良(なら)草履(ぞうり) (Nara zōri)
* 奈良(なら)大(だい)衆(しゅ) (Nara daishu)
* 奈良(なら)茶(ちゃ) (Nara-cha)
* 奈良(なら)茶(ちゃ)飯(めし) (Nara chameshi)
* 奈良(なら)茶(ちゃ)碗(わん) (Nara chawan)
* 奈良(なら)朝(ちょう) (Nara-chō)
* 奈良(なら)漬(づ)け (narazuke)
* 奈良(なら)人(にん)形(ぎょう) (Nara ningyō)
* 奈良(なら)の大(だい)仏(ぶつ) (Nara no Daibutsu)
* 奈良(なら)の都(みやこ) (Nara no miyako)
* 奈良(なら)派(は) (Nara-ha)
* 奈良(なら)版(ばん) (Nara-ban)
* 奈良(なら)奉(ぶ)行(ぎょう) (Nara bugyō)
* 奈良(なら)風炉(ぶろ) (Nara-buro)
* 奈良(なら)法(ほう)師(し) (Nara hōshi)
* 奈良(なら)盆(ぼん)地(ち) (Nara bonchi)
* 奈良(なら)彫(ぼり) (narabori)
* 奈良(なら)物(もの) (naramono)
* 奈良(なら)山(やま) (Nara-yama)

#### See also

* 平(へい)城(じょう)京(きょう) (Heijō-kyō)
* 青(あお)丹(に)よし (aoni yoshi), pillow word alluding to Nara

### References

* ↑ “奈良・平城・寧楽”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ On the tenth year of Emperor Sujin's reign, Water Rat day of the ninth month, “then, leading selected soldiers, (the rebels) went forward, climbed Nara-yama (hills lying to the north of Heijō-kyō) and put them in order. Now the imperial forces gathered and flattened trees and plants. Therefore, the mountain is called Nara-yama.”
* ↑ 柳田国男 YANAGIDA Kunio (1936), 『地名の研究』 (The Study of Place Names), 古今書院, pp.217-219
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

## Old Japanese
### Alternative forms

* 寧樂, 平城

### Etymology

From the Nihon Shoki (720 CE):
    則率$_二$精兵$_一$、進登$_二$那羅山$_一$而軍之。時官軍屯聚、而蹢$_二$跙草木$_一$。因以號$_二$其山$_一$曰$_二$那羅山$_一$。〈蹢跙、此云$_二$：布瀰那羅須$_一$〉The selected soldiers went forward, climbed Nara-yama, and put them in order. Now the imperial forces gathered and flattened trees and plants. Therefore, the mountain is called Nara-yama (“Flattened” is read as fuminarasu).
However, analysis of phonetic spellings reveals that the placename was often spelled with a final -ku or -ki$_2$ element.

### Proper noun

奈良 (Nara) (kana なら)
* a placename in 大和 (Yamato$_2$, “Yamato Province”), the seat of power of the ancient Yamato court

#### Derived terms

* 奈良坂 (Narazaka)
* 奈良の都 (Nara no$_2$ mi$_1$yako$_1$)
* 奈良山 (Nara-yama)

#### Descendants

* Japanese: 奈良 (Nara)

#### See also

* 靑丹よし (awoni yo$_1$si), pillow word alluding to Nara